French regulator appoints new chairman

Pierre-Franck Chevet has been appointed as chairman of France's nuclear safety regulator, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN).

French president Francois Hollande signed a decree on 9 December appointing Chevet as chairman the ASN for a six-year term.

Chevet - a graduate from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines - joined the ASN in 1986. After being deputy head of the nuclear construction oversight office, he became deputy director in charge of nuclear power reactors and then assistant to former chairman Andre-Claude Lacoste. Between February 2005 and February 2007, Chevet was special adviser to the office of the prime minister, with responsibility for energy, industry, research and the environment.

Chevet now succeeds Lacoste, who was appointed to the position in 2006.